Tag Archives: religious freedom

Reports: US Air Force Consults Michael Weinstein on Religious Policy

According to his own statements reported at a Washington Post blog, Michael Weinstein (of his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation) met at the

Pentagon on April 23 where they discuss[ed] religious issues in a group that included several generals and a military chaplain.

The blog was written by Sally Quinn, who has been friendly to Weinstein’s cause in the past.  Weinstein seems inimitably pleased at the invitation, as likely any private citizen in America might be if US Air Force leadership had a personal meeting with them on “religious issues in the military.”  It’s unclear what grants Weinstein that legitimacy, beyond a spate of failed lawsuits and a series of self-published op-eds that would put even the most advanced thesaurus to shame (save the one he apparently plagiarized).

It would seem at least one senior leader was there, as the article claims one attendee was LtGen Richard Harding — The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, who is the senior legal advisor to the Chief of Staff, General Mark Welsh:  Read more

Congressman “Grills” SecDef over Christians in Military

US Rep Randy Forbes (R-Va) reportedly “grilled” relatively new Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel over

a steady stream of religious discrimination complaints over the past four years from Christian soldiers.

For his part, Secretary Hagel said he’d have to get back to the Congressman:

Hagel said he had no idea what the congressman was talking about.

“I don’t know about all the specifics of the information you presented,” he told the lawmaker. “I will get it. And I will find out about it.”

When asked if the DoD was enforcing section 533 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Obama, Secretary Hagel again pled ignorance Read more

Congress Demands Army Answer for Calling Christians Extremists

The US Army has received a string of criticism in the days since it was revealed a Reserve Army EO officer included evangelical Christians and Catholics (as well as all of Sunni Islam) in “religious extremism.”

FoxNews reports 12 members of Congress have called on the Army to apologize and “provide a balanced briefing on religious extremism.”  (See Congressman Lamborn’s letter to the Secretary of the Army.)

Similarly, another Army email released to FoxNews included copied text from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “anti-gay intelligence file” mocking the “Christian Right” and its “opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians.”  The author, an Army LtCol, said

just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values.

“Some of the groups” in the SPLC list included the Family Research Council (which has cited ChristianFighterPilot.com) and the American Family Association — two Christian groups villified by the SPLC for their opposition to the social normalization of homosexuality.

The inclusion of Christians and Christian beliefs in an Army email saying they don’t “share our Army values” actually contradicts Army values.  The Department of Defense has Read more

The Story of Chaplain Kapaun, Medal of Honor Recipient

The DoD has published a lengthy, two-part (1, 2) story on Chaplain Emil Kapaun, who will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor tomorrow.  The articles contain many details of his private and military life, as well as many photographs.

Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Update: The well-covered story by the Associated Press.  In addition, an Army.mil article notes a memorial in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where military facilities are named in honor of Kapaun, including a Kapaun Chapel that still hosts services.

In 1955, four years after his death, the Army named Kapaun Barracks — now Kapaun Administration Annex in Kaiserslautern, Germany — after him.

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Homosexual Agenda Driven by Hurt Feelings

The Stars and Stripes repeats an Associated Press article under the headline “Military’s same-sex couples say DOMA dishonors service, sacrifice” [updated link].  The basic gist is that it’s not fair to deny homosexuals the recognition heterosexuals receive.

Perhaps without realizing it, homosexuals are, by extension, claiming anyone who is offended is de facto worthy of being treated as if they were what they are not.

What about the Soldier who marries another woman while still married at home — both of his wives deserve benefits, too, right? After all, their feelings will undoubtedly be hurt if they are “left out.”

A woman on the homefront learns Read more

Another Military Memorial Targeted for its Cross

A Vietnam Veteran’s memorial erected in 1972 in Coos Bay, Oregon, is the focus of a complaint from the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  The FFRF is demanding the town remove the memorial because it has a cross.

The [FFRF] sent Coos Bay City Manager Rodger Craddock a letter saying the memorial itself isn’t the problem, it’s the cross resting on top.

They say it’s an “endorsement of Christianity over other religions and over nonreligion,” and must be removed “immediately”.

The presence of a cross on a public display does not “make [a] law regarding an establishment of religion.”  But these asinine attacks will continue, and in some cases Read more

US Military Chaplain Joins Others on the Supreme Court and DOMA

A US Army Chaplain’s comments on the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), regarding his faith and religious liberty:

“If DOMA is declared unconstitutional, then it will initiate the assured drive in our society and government to give warrant and support to numerous other unspeakable sexual acts as normative. In the past two years since DADT was repealed, (which was the vehicle by which homosexuals gained official government recognition and approval of their immoral lifestyle), we have seen appeals by those who advocate for the public acceptance of polygamy, pedophilia and even bestiality in our educational institutions and government, using the very same fallacious arguments the homosexual movement has used over the last several decades to gain public acceptance. And just last week there was a public call in the national media for the US military to now allow those given to transvestism (cross dressing) to also have the freedom to openly serve in our ranks. The repeal to DADT certainly opened Pandora’s Box. But striking down DOMA would pry it open.

“If DOMA is repealed, it will hit the military first. And no one will face the pressure, persecution and disfavor more than the military chaplains. Why? Because we are the Read more

Dobbins Reserve Base Saves Historic Chapel by Moving It

Dobbins Air Reserve Base, located in Marietta, Georgia, needed to modify its entry gate to comply with increased security measures.  As a result, the 60-year-old base chapel was slated to be demolished.

The chapel played an important role for more than 60 years as a spiritual home to airmen and their families. It was deployed to Europe during World War II. After the war, it was acquired by the Georgia Air National Guard through private donation. Placed on then active-duty Dobbins Air Force Base, it was dedicated to veterans who served their country in World War II by Army Brig. Gen. J.H. O’Neil, Third Army chaplain.

O’Neil is known for writing Army Gen. George Patton’s prayer for Read more

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